US-based wifi technology developer Plume Design raised $37.5m yesterday in a round that featured a range of corporate investors.
The participants included mass media group Comcast, which Axios reported in April this year was set to lead the round, and which took part through its Comcast Cable subsidiary.
Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, Presidio Ventures, Liberty Global Ventures and Shaw Ventures, respective subsidiaries of electronics maker Samsung, conglomerate Sumitomo, mass media firm Liberty Global and telecom group Shaw Communications, as well as Jackson Square Ventures.
Plume has created what it claims is the world’s first self-optimising wifi, which adapts to its surroundings in order to reach every corner of a user’s home.
The technology can be integrated into existing offerings, which makes it of strategic interest to companies with cable and internet services, such as Comcast, Liberty Global, Shaw and Sumitomo, and internet-off-things technology producers like Samsung.
The funding will support the ongoing deployment of Plume’s Adaptive WiFi technology and its integration with internet service provider networks, and for expansion activities in Europe and Silicon Valley.
Tyson Marian, Comcast Cable’s vice-president of strategic development, will join Plume’s board of directors. He said: “Delivering fast and reliable connectivity in every corner of the home with an intuitive user experience is a key initiative for operators.
“We see Plume’s cloud-based approach as a core ingredient of our own Xfinity xFi platform: secure, no-configuration and cost effective whole-home connectivity that can be offered and managed at scale.”
Plume has not revealed details of its earlier funding, but said the latest round took its overall equity financing to more than $63m, and that Liberty Global Ventures, Shaw Ventures and Jackson Square Ventures participated as existing investors.
– Photo courtesy of Plume Design, Inc.